Fulong Beach 福隆海水浴場

8/2/2019

Fulong Beach is my favorite beach in greater Taipei. It is easily accessible by public transportation (TRA Gongliao Station) has beautiful golden sand, a large shallow swimming area, and tons of food options within walking distance. The paid part of the beach features sand sculptures and lifeguards, while the free part of the beach is less clean but there are no annoying lifeguards to whistle at you all the time, making it a foreigners paradise.

Background:
Fulong Beach lies next to Fulong Village in Gongliao District of New Taipei, at the mouth of the Shuang River. It is special in Taiwan for its rare golden color.
The beach has been a popular swimming destination since the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. In 1959, the TRA created public showers and bridge that goes to the other side of the sandbar that you see today.
The Fullon hotel resort sits in front of the paid beach and is a popular destination for Taipei residents.
Taiwan's fourth nuclear reactor lies in the background of the beach, but it has never been operational and likely never will be due to the anti-nuclear power movement in Taiwan.
Near the beach one can go camping at Longmen campground or biking on the Caoling bicycle loop.

Price:
Paid Fullon Hotel Beach: 100 NT per person
Public beach next to Dongxing Temple: Free

Hours:
Paid Fullon Hotel Beach: 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM (extended to 9 PM on Sat/Sun in summer)
Public beach next to Dongxing Temple: 24/7

When to go:
May to October when the weather is nice and the water is warm.
Winter on the northeast coast is cold and windy.
Fulong sand sculpture season dates: April 19th - August 25th (2019).

How to get there:
By Train: Take the TRA train to Fulong Station. Walk straight from the station down to the beach!
By Car/Scooter: Take provincial higway 2 from Qidu in Keelung through the mountains past Shifen and Shuangxi until you reach Gongliao on the coast. The beach is right in front of the train station, and there is free parking in front of Dongxing Temple.

Map:
Please see below:

Our Journey:

I go to Fulong Beach multiple times every summer, but only via scooter or car. It is my favorite beach in Taipei because it is close, has great sand, shallow water, and no annoying lifeguards on the free side of the beach. The food stalls and restaurants near the beach also are reminiscent of Kenting. One could say that Fulong is the Kenting of northern Taiwan.

When you come to Fulong, you have the choice of either going to the free beach on the right (south) or the paid beach on the left (north).

The paid side of Fulong Beach has sand sculptures during the summer and always has the most people.

Along the road to the paid beach are usually a few food stalls.

Also you will have to pass next to Fullon Fulong Grand Hotel before you can get to the beach.

You have to buy a ticket in order to cross the bridge to the paid beach. I have never been over to the paid side of the beach. And why would I? The other side is free, has less people, and no annoying lifeguards.

The free side of the beach lies in front of Dongxing Temple near the fishing harbor.

There can also be a lot of people on this side of the beach, but it is a much more relaxed environment. Also you will always find tons of foreigners here.

You can reach this beach by following the bike path or just walking across the small steam.

Dongxing Temple was built in1926 and refurbished in 2000. It is a religious center in Fulong.

Next to the temple are also a few food stalls and food trucks. You can also shower behind the temple the Taiwanese way by bringing your own buck and filling it up with water from the bathroom sinks (a lot of Taiwanese people do this).

Or you can shower at the food stand next to the temple for 30 NT a person, no hot water available.

There are plenty of showers here and you won't have to wait too long even during peak hours.

There is also free parking next to Dongxing temple, unlike next to Fullon Hotel which is 100-200 NT per day.

Panorama of the free side of the beach.

Another panorama of the free side of the beach, giving you a 360 view.

The beach at the free part of Fulong Beach is not clean, and the water is not very clear. But its acceptable for Taiwan standards.
The best part about this beach is the lack of lifeguards. Normally in Taiwan you will get the whistle for even getting your feet wet. This is because most people in Taiwan can't swim so the lifeguards go crazy.
As a foreigner used to enjoying a peaceful beach and knowing how to swim this can be super annoying. I don't want to get the whistle for being in water up to my knees. This is why the free part of Fulong is the best beach in northern Taiwan.

I know there are tons of foreigners that come here that drink beer and leave their beer cans and trash on the beach or in the ocean. This is not okay. If you are one of these foreigners, please do the rest of us and the environment a favor and take your trash with you. Also drinking and swimming is dangerous and you could drown.

View of the mothballed fourth nuclear reactor, which is now a ghost town.

View of the paid part of the beach.

Another popular activity on the free side of the beach is surfing and paddle boarding.

You will find many a foreigner here surfing, as well as Taiwanese. I have also seen surfing classes take place here.

There is also plenty of sand here as well as a giant sand dune near Dongxing Temple.

Windsurfing and kayaking are also popular activities here.

Swarms of people going to see the sand sculptures.

The majority of people that go to the paid sand sculpture part of the beach are Taiwanese. This part of the beach is fitting for them because many of them can't swim and wear long pants and long sleeves to the beach, planning only to get their toes wet anyway.